British filmmaker Edgar Wright is set to direct the film adaptation of author Adrian McKinty's novel The Chain. According to reports, Universal Pictures has picked up the film rights for the book in an undisclosed deal.

Wright, who is currently working on the much-awaited film, Last Night in Soho, will direct the new movie from a script by Jane Goldman.

The Chain, which was published in July 2019, centres around a woman who learns that her 11-year-old daughter has been kidnapped and discovers that the only way to get her back is to pay a ransom and kidnap another child. Her daughter will be released only when the next victim's parents kidnap another child.

The film will be produced by Working Title's Eric Fellner and Tim Bevan, Complete Fiction's Nira Park and Wright, and The Story Factory's Shane Salerno.

Wright is best known for directing films such as Baby Driver, Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, and The World's End.

His next, Last Night in Soho, was recently moved back by Focus Features from September 25, 2020 to April 23, 2021.